The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1887-05-20
THE THIRD WATCH
THE TIME WHEN CRIMINALS DO
THEIR WORST.

sVsSV vSVSss
Rev. DIR. Talmage Exh0rts His Uearerl
to Give Money to tho Poor Rather
than Tracts-Gamblers tho sIost Heart.
less Of AL Evil Doors.
BROOKLYN, May l5-At the tabernacle Thu,
morning there were the same great throngs Of
people as usual, OVERLOOKING the main audi
ence room into the corridors, and from the
corridors into the street. This, the largest
church In America, Is more and more made
quate to hold the people, a. the years 60 by.
The pastor, the Rev. T. De Witt Talmage
DID,, took for his text this morning: swatch.
man, what Of the nightw Isaiah xxi,2 He
said: -.-r... ~.t
When night came down on Babylon,
Nineveh, and Jerusalem, they Eeeded care.
full watching, otherwise the incendiary's
torch might have been thrust into the very
heart Of the metropolitan splendor; or enemies,
marching from the hills, might have forced
the gates. All night long, ON top Of the wall
and In front Of the gates, might be heard the
measured step OF the Waterman ON his solitary
beat; silence hung In air, save as some passer
by raised the question: "Watchman, what
Of the nightr'
1t is to mo deeply suggestive and solemn
thing to see man standing guard by night.
It thrilled through me, as at the gate of an
arsenal in Charleston, the question once smote
me: "Who comes therer' followed by the
sharp commands: advance and give the
countersign." Every moral teacher stands
on picket, or patrols the wall as Waterman.
His work is to sound the alarm; and whether
it bo in the first watch, in the second watch,
In the third watch, or in the fourth watch, to
be vigilant until the daybreak filings its
"morning glories" of blooming cloud across
the arching trellis of the sky.
The ancients divided their night into four
parasitic first watch, from 6 to 0; the second,
from 0 to ~; the third, from IL to 8; the
fourth, from 3 to 6.
speak now of the city in the third watch,
or from - to 3 o'clock.
I'never weary of looking upon the life and
brilliancy of the city in the first watch. That
Is the hour when the stores are closing. The
laboring men, having quilted the scaffolding
and the shop, are on their way home. 1t re-
joices me to give them my seat in the city
car. They have stood and hammered away
all day. Their feet are weary They are ex-
hausted with the tug Of work. They are
mostly cheerful With appetites sharpened
on the swift turner's wheel and the carpen-
ter's milestone, they seek the evening meal.
The clerks, too, have broken away from the
counter, and with brain weary Of the long
line of figures, and the whims of those who
60 a shopping, seek the face of mother, or
wife and child. The merchants are unhar-
Messing themselves from their anxieties on
their way up the street. The boys that lock
up are heavipg away at the shutters, showing
the heavy bolts and taking last look at the
fire to see that all is safe. The streets are
thronged with young men setting out from
the great centers of bargain making.
Let idlers clear the street, and give right of
way to the besweated artisans and merchants
They have earned their bread, and are now
on their way home to get it.
The lights in full jet hang over 10000
evening repasts-the parents at either end OF
the table, the children between. Thank God,
"who setteth the solitary in families" n
A few hours later and all the places of
amusement, good and bad, are in full tide 4
Lovers Of art, catalogue in hand, stroll
through tho galleries and discuss the pict-
ures. The ballroom is respondent with the
rich apparel Of those who, On either side of
tho white, glistening boards, await the signal
from tho orchestra. The footlights Of the
theatre fash up. the bell rings, and the cur
tain rises, and out from the gorgeous scenery
glide the actors, greeted with the vocifera-
tion of the expectant multitudes. Concert
halls are lifted into encbantment with the
MARBLE of one songstress, or swept out on a
sea of tumultuous feeling by the blast Of bra
zen instruments Drawing rooms are filled
with all gracefulness of apparel, with all
sweetness of sound, with all splendor of man.
ner; mirrors are catching up and multiplying
the scene until it seems as if in infinite CORR
doris there were garlanded groups advancing
and retreatinG.
The outdoor air rings with laughter and
with the moving to Of thousands ON the great
The dashing span, adrip with
the foam Of the long country ride, rushes past
as YOU halt at the curb stone.
Mirth, revelry, beauty, fashion, magnifl-
cence mingle in the great metropolitan pict-
ure, until the thinking man goes home to
think more seriously and the praying man to
pray more earnestly.
A beautiful and overwhelming thing is the
CITY in the first and second watches Of the
night.
But the clock strikes -, and the third watch
has begun.
The thunder of the city has rolled out Of
the air. The slightest sounds cut the night
with such distinctness as to attract your at
tention The tinkling of the bell of the street
car in the distance and the baying of the dog;
the stamp Of the horse in the next street;
The slamming of a saloon door; the hic-
cough of the drunkard; the shrieks of the
steam whistle, five miles away-Oh, how sug-
gestive, my friends, the third watch Of the
night!
There are honest men passing up and down
the street. Here is a city missionary who
has been carrying scuttle of coal to that
poor family in that dark place. Here is an
undertaken going up the steps Of building
from which there comes a bitter cry, which |
indicates that tho destroying angel has smit-
ten the first born. Here is q minister of re-
ligion who has been giving the sacrament to
q dying Christian. Here is physician pass
ing along in great haste, the messenger few
steps head hurrying on to the household.
Nearly all the lights have gone out in the |
dwellings, for it is the third watch of the |
night. That light in the window is the light |
of the watcher, for the medicines must be ad- |
ministered, and the fever must be watched, |
and the restless tossing of Of the coverlid |
must be resisted, and the ice must be kept on |
the hot temples, and the perpetual prayer |
must 20 up from hearts soon to be broken.